FORTY-year-old footballers Ian Bennett and Graham Alexander are set to come face to face when Huddersfield Town host Preston next Saturday.
Both keeper Bennett and midfielder Alexander reached the milestone last Monday.
Coventry-born Alexander has won 40 Scotland caps in a career which began at Scunthorpe and also featured Luton, Preston and Burnley before his summer switch to Deepdale.
Bennett, from Worksop, had spells with QPR and Newcastle before making his league debut while at Peterborough.
He has also played for Birmingham, Leeds and Sheffield United, joining Town during the 2010 close-season.
Alexander isn’t the oldest player to have represented Preston, because forward Bob Kelly, who had played for Town until he was 39, appeared for North End in an FA Cup tie in 1935 at 41 years and two months.
David Steele, the celebrated wing-half of the triple title side, played for the Town team he managed at 49 years and four months in a Wartime game at Crewe in 1943.
The oldest player ever to appear in the Football League was Neil McBain, a former Manchester United and Everton midfielder who in an emergency, turned out in goal for now defunct New Brighton, the team he managed, at 51 years, three months in a Fourth Division clash against Hartlepool in 1947.
